{"id":3569,"date":"2025-04-15T10:58:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T08:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anasa.org.gr\/?p=3569"},"modified":"2025-04-15T10:58:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T08:58:42","slug":"article-open-mouths-a-reflection-on-the-exhibition-les-fleurs-du-male-by-romuald-hazoume-at-gagosian-athens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anasa.org.gr\/?p=3569","title":{"rendered":"Article \u201cOpen Mouths\u201d – A reflection on the exhibition “Les fleurs du m\u00e2le” by Romuald Hazoum\u00e8 at Gagosian Athens"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cOpen Mouths\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A reflection on Les fleurs du m\u00e2le<\/em> Romuald Hazoum\u00e8 exhibition at Gagosian Athens<\/p>\n

by Sophia Xenelli<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On March 11th, we attended the opening of Romuald Hazoum\u00e8\u2019s exhibition Les fleurs du m\u00e2le<\/em> at Gagosian Athens.<\/strong>
\nIt was a remarkable opportunity for the people of Athens to engage with the radical work of Hazoum\u00e8, one of Africa\u2019s foremost contemporary artists and recipient of the prestigious Arnold Bode Prize at documenta 12.<\/p>\n

Having read about the artist before entering the gallery, one might expect to learn about life in Porto-Novo, Benin, and the cultural and socio-economic themes that shape Hazoum\u00e8\u2019s hometown. And while we did, the experience unexpectedly opened us up to something far more universal.<\/p>\n

The presence of the artist in the gallery was of utmost importance, allowing visitors to grasp the full scope of his work and thought. When asked about the masks\u2014assemblages made from recycled plastic containers\u2014Hazoum\u00e8 revealed a \u201csecret\u201d hidden in plain sight. As the curatorial text informed us, the masks are in fact portraits of people the artist has encountered. What we hadn\u2019t noticed, however, was that all of the containers lacked lids. The containers were open\u2014meaning, metaphorically, the mouths of the people represented were open as well.<\/p>\n

As Hazoum\u00e8 guided us through the portraits, he drew our attention to what he called the \u201copen mouth.\u201d An open mouth, he explained, means speaking out\u2014against injustice, war, exploitation. And of course, doing so comes at a cost. Through both his work and his inspiring words, Hazoum\u00e8 urged us to keep our mouths open and our voices heard. He spoke not only of his homeland, but also of the crimes in Palestine, of injustices against women, and of the MeToo movement\u2014saying that when one mouth opens, others will follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what is the connection between the masks and the paintings?\u201d a girl asked.
\nHazoum\u00e8 responded with another eye-opening explanation, revealing the links between the mask-portraits and the symbolic language embedded in the paintings. It turns out the paintings may also contain \u201copen mouths,\u201d hidden in plain view through centuries-old symbols developed by Yoruba-speaking people. These symbols, forms of F\u00e2<\/em>\u2014the ancient Yoruba divination system\u2014act as an alternative language, one that transcends time and space. They travel with the artist across the world, carrying a mystical vocabulary that speaks to those willing to listen.<\/p>\n

We are deeply grateful to the artist for initiating us into his world, and to the Gagosian Gallery for providing the space and context for such a powerful encounter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Image credits: Romuald Hazoum\u00e8,\u00a0Afro-dite<\/em>, 2024. Romuald Hazoum\u00e8, ADAGP 2025<\/p>\n

Photo: Thomas Lannes<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOpen Mouths\u201d   A reflection on Les fleurs du m\u00e2le Romuald Hazoum\u00e8 exhibition at Gagosian Athens by Sophia Xenelli   On March 11th, we attended the opening of Romuald Hazoum\u00e8\u2019s exhibition Les fleurs du m\u00e2le at Gagosian Athens. It was a remarkable opportunity for the people of Athens to engage with the radical work of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5,6,8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"category-activism","9":"category-articles","10":"category---xhibitions","11":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anasa.org.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anasa.org.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anasa.org.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anasa.org.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anasa.org.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anasa.org.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anasa.org.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anasa.org.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anasa.org.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anasa.org.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}